


Closure (Lack Thereof)

by CallToMuster



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: BAMF Phil Coulson, F/M, Pheels, Phil Coulson Needs a Hug, Post 3x09, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-04
Updated: 2015-12-04
Packaged: 2018-05-04 21:56:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,486
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5349908
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CallToMuster/pseuds/CallToMuster
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“Just drive.” Coulson’s weary voice echoed throughout the car. Mack blinked. Why would Coulson leave Ms. Price? Then it hit him. Oh. Oh, no.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Closure (Lack Thereof)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [stepantrofimovic](https://archiveofourown.org/users/stepantrofimovic/gifts).



> For stepantrofimovic because they always put up with my rants and headcanons. Plus, they've gifted me things recently, and THEY ARE SO AWESOME. Go check them out on stepantrofimovic's page! (Also, yes, sorry stepantrofimovic. I know you're a Phlint fan and I am too, but I really loved Coulsalind on the show. Hope you still like it!)
> 
> I hope this isn't too bad. I suck at characterization, but I watched Closure and sat down and cranked this out! If anyone has any better title or summary suggestions, I'd love to hear them.
> 
> With that said, thanks and please enjoy!
> 
> DISCLAIMER: I do not own and am not affiliated with Disney or Marvel Studios. These characters are not my intellectual property. There will be no financial gain from this nor will any be sought. This is for entertainment purposes only.

“Just drive.” Coulson’s weary voice echoed throughout the car. Mack blinked. Why would Coulson leave Ms. Price? Then it hit him. Oh. Oh, no. He and Rosalind had been on opposite sides of the fence for a while (it’s kind of hard to like someone when they think your partner is an abomination and should be exterminated) but in the last couple weeks they had all come to realize that Rosalind wasn’t aware she was helping Hydra. And she was dating the Director (which Mack had conflicting thoughts about) but they seemed to really like each other, and if they were happy then who was Mack to judge? 

But this… This was not good. Rosalind, dead? Mack wondered how it happened. He had gotten the text for an extraction and had quickly raced to the scene. Luckily Mack had been coming back from a grocery run, or maybe the Director’s body would be cooling as well. And now they were driving away, back to base. Coulson was still silent in the passenger’s seat. He was staring straight ahead with a clenched jaw and a glint in his eye. An uneasy pit was forming deep in Mack’s stomach. This was not going to end well. 

“Mack, confirmation on the Director’s status.” May’s stern voice broke the silence as the radio squawked. Mack glanced quickly sideways at Coulson.

“Bruised with some minor wounds but alive.”

“What happened?” May questioned, and Mack swallowed. He opened his mouth, prepared to speak, when Coulson beat him to it.

“Ward. He shot Rosalind in the neck while we were eating dinner, called me to gloat, and then sent his lackeys to finish me. I fought them off until Mack picked me up.” The Director’s voice was dead. Like Rosalind.

-

“Ward. He shot Rosalind in the neck while we were eating dinner. He called me to gloat and then send his lackeys to finish me. I fought them off until Mack picked me up.” If May had been a rookie, she would’ve done a double-take. As it happened, all she did was widen her eyes and take a breath. May didn’t approve of Rosalind. The ATCU leader was too manipulative for her tastes. She preferred someone a little more blunt. (With the exception of Andrew. He had always been the exception.) 

May did, however, approve of Coulson. Coulson had been the shoulder she cried on (metaphorically of course. The Cavalry didn’t cry.) since their very first day at the Academy, when she took him down on the mats. He didn’t get embarrassed at having been beaten by a girl like the others had, just grinned and asked to try again. That time, she was the one lying on the floor when the spar was over. They had been best friends ever since. Which was why May felt an overwhelming wave of sadness crash over her. Coulson had been through hell in the past three years. He deserved happiness, and he was finally getting it with Price. Now, though… Now, Coulson was unpredictable. Whatever he did next though, May would be by his side. It was what she did. 

“... Understood. We’ll see you back at base. Over and out.” It was a rather abrupt way to end the conversation, but May had never been good with the touchy-feely stuff anyway. Which was why she didn’t pull any punches when she told Daisy, who had been waiting for news, “Coulson’s alive. Price is not.”

-

“Coulson’s alive. Price is not.” Daisy may have been a trained agent, but that didn’t stop her from letting out a surprised, “What?!”

“Coulson’s alive. Price isn’t.” May repeated her words matter-of-factly. The repetition did nothing to mitigate the shock Daisy felt.

Rosalind. Dead.

Her first thought probably shouldn’t have been, Oh, crap. Coulson. But it was. Because honestly, this was going to tear him up inside. She knew the older man had been warring with himself for a long time. His trust issues were bigger than hers, and that was saying something. His paranoia seemingly paid off (it’s not paranoia if they’re really out to get you) when they thought Price was working for Hydra. But then it was proven wrong, and Rosalind was hurt and Coulson was angry and apologetic. Finally though, Coulson let Roz into his life, and the change was evident. He was more relaxed and happy; it made Daisy glad. 

Rosalind’s views on Inhumans made her a hard person to stomach. Daisy would admit that. But part of growing up was not blowing your top over someone having different opinions than you. (Even when said opinions were about your existence.) That didn’t mean that Daisy wanted her dead. 

“What happened?” Her head was still spinning. She barely noticed Hunter coming up beside her.

“Apparently Ward sniped her in the throat.”

-

“Apparently Ward sniped her in the throat.” Hunter arrived at the tail-end of the conversation. 

“Sniped who in the throat?” He was all for a good sniping in the right circumstances, but judging by the tone of May’s voice, he wasn’t going to like the answer. (Actually, that wasn’t a good judge. May was always like that.)

“Rosalind Price.” Daisy answered him. 

“What, Coulson’s spy bang buddy?” Hunter quipped. It was all back-and-forth between the two of them, as far as Hunter was concerned. One person threw out a clever and flirty sort-of-insult, then the other person would, and the cycle continued. Hunter had seen their relationship coming. After all, he’d been there the first time the two of them had met. Even then Hunter could tell that the chemistry between the directors of on-again off-again rival government agencies would pay off.

“Not the way I’d put it, but yeah.” She glanced at him. 

“Well, shit, mate.” Hunter summed things up nicely. He was good at things like that. But really, this was bad. When Bobbi had been tortured, Hunter had had a blood lust. He wanted to go after Ward no matter the cost. But Rosalind, she had been killed. What would Coulson do? How far would he go?

“Pretty much.”

-

“Pretty much.” Fitz approached Hunter as Daisy and May went into another room to keep talking. 

“What happened with Coulson? Mack was trying to tell me before he left in a hurry.” Hunter winced slightly when he heard Fitz’s question.

“Roz. Ward killed her.” The ex-mercenary said.

“Dammit!” Fitz swore. They needed Rosalind Price to help with Distant Star Pathfinder, if indeed that’s what it was. She had knowledge that would really be useful to opening the portal again and getting Will back. That was Fitz’s priority at the moment. Sure, he loved Simmons. But if he couldn’t get her, then he could at least make sure she was happy. And Simmons couldn’t be happy until she saved Will.

Hunter gave him an odd look. “Not the reaction I was expecting, mate.”

-

“Not the reaction I was expecting, mate.” Lincoln overheard as he passed the two in the hallway. He had just gotten the news about Price dying while she and Coulson were out, and he didn’t know how to feel. On one hand, he didn’t trust either of them, and both of them had at one point sold him out. But on the other, Daisy trusted Coulson, and Lincoln trusted Daisy. If D=C and L=D, does L=C? Maybe. Lincoln didn’t know yet. All he knew was that he’d keep his guard up like he always had. 

Lincoln had also heard that Ward was the one who made the shot. That was another reason to hate the guy, the other one being that he betrayed Daisy. There were a lot of trust issues going on with Lincoln at the moment, but that didn’t seem too out of place in SHIELD. Everyone had been betrayed at some point. Most recently by Lash (that monster needed to be put down) and seemingly by Rosalind. 

The hanger doors opened to reveal Coulson himself with Mack a step behind. The Director didn’t look good. Blood splatters covered his shirt, and his hands were stained red. Coulson’s face was set in a grim line. Lincoln paused in his walking and stared at the man as he walked past. The back of his head was coated in blood, and it dripped down his neck onto the collar of his button-up. 

Down the hallway, Lincoln saw Daisy rise to follow her mentor, but May stopped her with an arm and some words.

“Let him go.”

-

“Let him go.” Phil barely heard his old friend’s voice. His head, previously full of fog, was now occupied only by one driving thought: I’m going to kill Ward. Phil didn’t care how he would do it, but Ward was going down. He should’ve done it when he had the chance.

The same thought ran through Phil’s head as he jumped out of the Quinjet and into the alien portal. 

Consequences be damned.

**Author's Note:**

> I'd love to hear any critiques you had, or speculations as to the next episode. It can't come fast enough!


End file.
